Everyone dreams. Though we may not be able to remember all of our dreams, we certainly remember our nightmares. Hell hath no fury and no horror compared with what we can create from the deepest bowels of our own imaginations and psyches. Religious texts and folklore are filled with accounts of dreams, and their interpretations have played a significant role in the decision-making of religious and political leaders. But what do dreams mean? Why do nightmares affect us so powerfully?

I'm proud to introduce my latest book, The Nightmare Encyclopedia: Your Darkest Dreams Interpreted. Myself and my co-author, Kirsten Dalley, have put together a tome that features hundreds of entries on the role of dreams and nightmares in various cultures around the world, on the influence of nightmares in popular culture, music, literature, and art, and what some of the many dream symbols mean. The best person to interpret the meaning of a dream is the dreamer, because only the dreamer can put the images into the context of his or her life.

So little is understood about dreams and sleeping, and the topic incorporates so many aspects of the supernatural. For example, some people claim to have out-of-body experiences during sleep, others believe they have been the victim of a spectral or old hag attack, and some have woken up believing they have just received a premonition in their dream. All of these are human experiences and worth talking about. This was an amazing project to work on because it forced me to pay closer attention to my own dreams and to ask more questions of their meaning. The most true answers from life's most important questions always come from within. Dreams and nightmares are oftentimes the conduit for some of those answers.

Interests:Ghosts, dancing, writing and tornados. Long baths are a great relaxer! Love meeting people. Going for walks. I love to write poems and short stories. Enjoy meeting new people, making new friends. Getting out of the city for a weekend is my fav thing to do but can't always do it. LOL

cheercoach05, I've studied many paranormal phenomena that seem to happen in and around the sleep state. To understand some of the phenomena, I needed to better understand our sleep state and dreaming. Dreaming is one of those mysteries that we take for granted. Everyone dreams, but so few of us pay attention to our dreams and try to understand what they might mean for us. The more I studied, the more hooked I became. I love picking apart and delving into things that are unexplained, dreams and nightmares seemed like a great topic to cover next.

"Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat. Call in the spirits, wherever they’re at!Rap on a table, it’s time to respond. Send us a message from somewhere beyond!Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween, awaken the spirits with your tambourine! Creepies and crawlies... toads in a pond! Let there be music from regions beyond.Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell – give us a hint by ringing a bell!" Madame Leota

Well I received my book, and have read half of it already. It is very interesting. I guess I am more partial to the paranormal side of things. I must be honest and say that I prefer the first three books over this one. It is still a very good book, but not my favorite!